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ORDER RE RECOVERY OF XÉLAN FOUNDATION’S ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND DEFENSE COSTS

This matter is before the Court on the motion of defendant xélan Foundation, Inc. (“Foundation”) under the Equal Access To Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. 2412 or, alternatively, under analogous provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 7430 (“Section 7430”) for recovery of its attorneys’ fees and costs incurred to defend this injunctive relief action (“Motion”). The Foundation seeks recovery of its actual litigation expenses from the government in the amount of $232,176.30, with waiver of the statutory maximum hourly rate for attorneys’ fees compensation or, alternatively, in the amount of $101,008.05 at the statutory rate. Plaintiff the United States filed an Opposition, and the Foundation filed a Reply. For the reasons discussed below, the Motion is CONDITIONALLY GRANTED.

I. DISCUSSION

A. Background

The United States brought this action for injunctive relief against several entities in the xélan family of companies and six individuals associated with the management of one or more of the entities, alleging they engaged in schemes to defraud the United States of tax revenues involving many…